Wednesday, August 17, 2011

In honor of the back-to-school season, this month’s chat is YA-themed, featuring authors Lisa Desrochers, Kendare Blake, and Kiki Hamilton, this Wednesday, August 17th, from 4 – 5 PM EST!

New York, NY – Tor Books (@torbooks) is thrilled to announce the theme and participants for August’s #Torchat, part of a monthly series of genre-themed, hour-long chats created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter.

August is back-to-school season in most of the US, in preparation for Fall classes. That means that soon it will be time for students to put down their summer reading and pick up textbooks. In honor of their upcoming sacrifice to state curriculums, this month’s #TorChat is Young Adult themed, and features three guest authors. Lisa Desrochers (@LisaDez), a working mother with two daughters and a paranormal romance series about the fight between Heaven and Hell—and their delicious representatives—for teenage Frannie Cavanaugh’s soul; Kendare Blake (@KendareBlake), who writes about a boy whose job is to kill the dead, and the ghost girl who spares his life; and Kiki Hamilton (@kikihamilton), an avid reader and a debut author of historical fantasy, will talk about Young Adult fiction: why they write it, why you should read it (even if you’re not a teen), and what makes it so popular.

The chat will be loosely moderated by a rising star in the YA world, Tor editor Melissa Frain (@frain), and fans are invited to follow or join in on the chat using the Twitter hashtag #torchat.

About the Authors

Lisa Desrochers (@LisaDez) lives in central California with her husband and two very busy daughters. She has a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, and has a full time day job with her PT practice. She also has a weekend job as a lecturer on a variety of healthcare topics. With the publication of her first book, PERSONAL DEMONS, Lisa added a third job to her resume: author. Her second book, ORIGINAL SIN, published in July and tells the further adventures of Frannie Cavanaugh, her former-demon boyfriend Luc, and Gabe, the angel who’d like to save her soul (and steal her heart, if he can).

Kendare Blake (@KendareBlake) holds an M.A. in creative writing from Middlesex University in northern London. She lives and writes in Washington, brakes for animals—the largest of which was a deer, which sadly didn’t make it, and the smallest of which was a mouse, which did, but it took forever—and appreciates Greek mythology, rare red meat, and veganism. Her novel ANNA DRESSED IN BLOOD is just your average boy-meets-girl, girl-kills-people story. It will be published on August 30th.

Kiki Hamilton (@kikihamilton) lives in Olympia, Washington. She is a member of the Class of 2k11, a group of debut middle grade and young adult authors who have banded together to promote their books and a general love of reading. Kiki’s debut novel is THE FAERIE RING, a historical fantasy set in Victorian London and the menacing otherworld of the Fey.

About #Torchat

#Torchat is a genre-themed, hour-long chat series created by Tor Books and hosted on Twitter. Guest authors join fans in lively, informative and entertaining discussions of all that’s hot in genre fiction, 140 characters at a time, from 4 - 5 PM EST on the third Wednesday of every month. Each #Torchat revolves around a different genre topic of interest, often of a timely nature, and strives to provide a new media opportunity for readers to connect with their favorite authors.

About Tor Books

Tor Books, an imprint of Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, is a New York-based publisher of hardcover and softcover books. Founded in 1980, Tor annually publishes what is arguably the largest and most diverse line of science fiction and fantasy ever produced by a single English-language publisher. In 2002, Tor launched Starscape, an imprint dedicated to publishing quality science fiction and fantasy for young readers, including books by critically acclaimed and award winning authors such as Cory Doctorow, Orson Scott Card, and David Lubar. Between an extensive hardcover and trade-softcover line, an Orb backlist program, and a stronghold in mass-market paperbacks, books from Tor have won every major award in the SF and fantasy fields, and has been named Best Publisher 24 years in a row in the Locus Poll, the largest consumer poll in SF.